Raise your hand if you want tomorrow to be better than today.
Raise your other hand if you would rather God give you prosperity than calamity.
Good. I’ve got you where I want you. Now give me all your money.
You and I were hard-wired for hope. Something in our DNA makes us want to believe that tomorrow can and will be better than today. When times are easy, we tend to presume on that. When times are tough, we go looking for it.
Maybe that’s why Jeremiah 29:11 has become such a popular verse in recent years. Go into any Christian book store or gift shop and you’ll see it on coffee mugs or on some idyllic painting or poster:
For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the Lord, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.
Doesn’t that do something for you? It certainly does for me. It tells me something about the heart of my God for me as an individual, and for the people I care about.
Trouble is, we take it completely out of context. [click to continue…]
The previous post – the one about Eagles’ Wings – was a significant one for this site – it was Post #1,000. Over the last six-plus years, roughly three times a week, I have had the delight, challenge, and opportunity to share an insight, rant, celebration or half-baked idea on a wide variety of subjects.
And now this. What to do to begin the next 1,000?
At first I had this crazy idea about going through the titles of every single post, in order, taking one word and writing a single piece. Yeah, that became pretty impossible, pretty fast.
Then I thought about other variations on that theme, playing off of previous post titles, etc. Problem is, that, too would have taken an enormous amount of time, and I still didn’t know what I actually wanted to say in that format.
I thought about linking back to favorites – mine and yours… [click to continue…]
“You yourselves have seen what I did to Egypt, and how I carried you on eagles’ wings and brought you to myself” (Exodus 19:4, NIV)
Here is a place.
An experience.
An image used to describe the powerful grace of a loving God.
Here is a birthright.
An invitation.
A metaphor for flying swiftly above the dangers and dead-ends into the loving arms of a Heavenly Father.
And where you can’t go on your own and when you lack the strength to survive, that’s when He meets you where you are and brings you to Himself… on eagles’ wings. [click to continue…]
Years ago, when corporate giants Shearson-Lehman and American Express merged, they ran a full-page ad in the Wall Street Journal with the headline, “Vision.” Then they gave my favorite definition of all time:
Vision is having an acute sense of the possible. It is seeing what others cannot see. And when those with similar vision are drawn together, something extraordinary occurs.
Something in my soul still comes alive when I read those words, written about 30 years ago. Nothing in leadership is more vital to the energy creation of an organization or its leaders than vision – that “acute sense of the possible.”
Over the years, of course, as with anything vital, I have also seen plenty of posers – people who used the allure and “sexiness” of the idea of vision as tools of manipulation, ego promotion, or cotton candy management (all flavor and no substance).
Having just had a great consulting experience with a wonderful church congregation in South Carolina, where we did some serious vision creation and casting (still a work in progress there), I have some ideas flowing about vision in leadership. Take a look, and consider how these may apply to your leader or leadership and your organizations. [click to continue…]
Beyond the riot of the noise and the fury of the storm
I hear Your voice, and all else is peace and quiet.
Above the swelling of the sea and the tossing of the waves
I hear Your voice, and everything becomes so still.
Within the darkness of despair and the sinking in my soul
I hear Your voice, and rise again to living hope.
Against the doubts of unbelief and the questions in my mind
I hear Your voice, and rest in knowing You believe. [click to continue…]
You can get yourself in serious trouble for using the “B” word in some places. Easy girls, I don’t mean that one. I’m talking about balance.
I know several people, in ministry of all places, that come out with guns blazing when people start talking about the search for life balance or balancing the demands of ministry vs. family and all that. “It’s compromise!” they declare. “You give all you’ve got to everything that’s important,” or something like that.
I know some other people who sincerely are trying to keep all the plates spinning. They’ve given up on excellence (sadly) – they’re just looking for survival at work, avoiding bankruptcy, and keeping their kids out of Juvenile Detention. “Balance” for them would be to somehow crawl out of those holes and get back to ground level.
Soon after I wrote that last post on diligence in leadership, I was reading some assignments for a class I teach, the subject of which was life balance. About 90% of them lamented something to the effect of “I stink at this!” Some of what I read broke my heart. Most of these people are mid-life, mid-career professionals who are in – or are headed for – ministry. They have kids, parents, congregations, a full-time masters-level school load, and usually a full-time job to go with it. And here, on Easter week, for crying out loud, we were asking them to write about balance.
All that has my wheels turning and my mental oven preheating. When something’s still in the oven I like to advertise it, so consider yourself warned. What follows is half-baked and still in the oven. But if you’re struggling to find some balance to your life and its multiple demands or feeling guilty because you just can’t seem to keep all the plates spinning, then call a time out.
Stop.
Put these ideas in your oven and let ‘em bake for a while and tell me what comes up. [click to continue…]
Here’s a good conversation starter for you. If you could identify one thing in a prospective leader that would ensure success, what would it be?
Or if you are currently in a place of influence, what’s the one thing you should strive for, today and every day?
Let the suggestions roll in… discussions like these will yield stand-by favorites such as vision, compassion, examples, character, communication, inspiration, encouragement and the like. All good answers.
It probably wouldn’t surprise you to know there’s a Bible answer for that. In fact, there are several, if you dig deeply enough. But there’s one place where the Bible – particularly the Apostle Paul – addresses leaders. And there he could have used any word in the language of his day to challenge them. So what one word did he use? See for yourself: [click to continue…]
The language of a Judge is to execute and liberate.
“knowing this, that our old self was crucified with Him, in order that our body of sin might be done away with, so that we would no longer be slaves to sin; for he who has died is freed from sin” (Romans 6:6-7).
The language of a Father is provision.
“God will provide for himself the lamb for the burnt offering, my son,” (Genesis 22:8). [click to continue…]
Love…
Such a simple word in English,
made complicated by the fact
that it can mean and refer to so many things.
It’s often cheapened
by reducing it to something resembling selfish pleasure…
It often generates cynicism
among those who gave their hearts to someone or something,
and were crushed by the experience…
It creates confusion
because the same word can be used for
Readers Digest,
Mom’s lasagna,
old movies,
and your newborn infant.
Yet even in the face of the frustration of finding the right way to express ourselves,
I still believe in the promise and the reality of a Perfect Love… [click to continue…]
Found myself making a list the other day. It was really helpful, and I suggest you do the same. It’ll be good, clean fun. So grab that pen or loosen up those fingers and let’s brainstorm.
Ready?
Make a list of all the things you still don’t know.
Okay, from the sound of those crickets, I’m assuming that may be a bit too broad. So hone in on one specific area.
The economy? That’s a good one.
Your kids of family? Excellent.
Your work situation? Awesome.
Regardless of the venue, when you allow your mind to focus on what you still don’t know because the future is uncertain, you’re giving yourself a heart-engraved invitation to be anxious in the purest sense of the word. We experience anxiety whenever we are pulled in different directions. That’s literally what the word means. Anxiety certainly includes worry, but it isn’t limited to that. Any emotional impasse can be classified as anxiety.
Recently I was reading the prayer of a really anxious man, and got a whole new perspective on what to do when I’m feeling anxious. [click to continue…]